Book of magic
by Johannah R. Ashling
Summary: Chihiro was never fortune, she was a human slave after all. But one day she is given the oppertunity to prove her existance as a living being. one step at a time. Rising from scratch, she meets people who fight or support her in her darkest hour. AU-story


"_Chihiro, why don't you refill the drinking bottles?"_

"_But mom, it's so hot outside and the spring is so far away!"_

"_Listen to your mother Chihiro; we'll be leaving again soon. I want all of us to be there before dark."_

"…_yes dad…"_

How annoying, it's the same dream again…

"_Hmm, it's always the same: 'Chihiro do this, chihiro do that.' Why can't they leave me alone for once?"_

Jeez I was such a spoiled brat…how childish.

_It was burning… our whole camp was burning, and I dropped the bottles, letting the content spill on the ground in the burning sands._

"_Mom…dad!"_

God I hate this part…please let it over quickly!

"_Mom…mom__!...MOM!!!DAD!!!...WHERE ARE YOU!"_

_I ran, and ran…and ran. Every fiber in my being told me to run away from the massif sea of flames. But I couldn't…couldn't run away when I didn't know if everybody was alright. Even when the smoke was chocking me, making my eyes tear; even when the heat of the fire was scorching my skin ever so slightly, I still kept going, searching through wagons and carts, between rocks and sand…but I couldn't find anyone._

"_MOM, DAD, EVERYONE?...please…PLEASE, IF SOMEONE CAN HEAR ME…ANSWER ME!"_

And then it was gone.

"Wake up you lazy maggots!"

I felt a sharp pain adding to my already bruised ribs. Not to mention that I could ever forget that wretched smell and steely voice. It was moving away from me, kicking and screaming for all of us to wake up.

My back hurts, I hadn't noticed before, the pain from where that filthy lizard kicked me had suppressed the pain of my muscles, but when I attempted to stand up it came back full force. After all these years, I still am not completely used to this yet.

What a nuisance

I have been in this room for only a few days and even if it was always dark, I knew everything by heart. It was a small room, not bigger than 5 by 5 meters, packed full with humans from all shapes and sizes. The walls where a mixture of concrete and siliceous stones, they weren't completely straight and were falling in decay. Unfortunately, the ground was made of the same material and we weren't exactly blessed with sleeping mats. It's without question the reason I'm stiff right now. There was no light nor were there any windows. There was only a large steel door that was rusting in several places.

I looked down on my hands. Once they were soft, now they're rough from the physical labor that had been forced on me. The once smooth skin was now marred with scars and fresh scratches, old blood and sweat. The iron shackles around my wrist were too small; they were digging in my wrist and made me bleed. They were quite old and I assume thoroughly used; caked with blood that wasn't my own and sweat that made them rust. If I had been younger I would have been afraid the rust rubbing against my wounds would cause infections and that I would get tetanus. Now I don't really care anymore. There are worst things oh trust me, more painful, tortures ways to die then you can imagine. I know… I have seen some of them.

"Alright you scumbags, here's your food!"

Tch, another thing I hate. They throw a few old, mildewed breads and a few bottles of water that turned green for God knows what the reason might be. Then the chaos starts. Survival of the fittest. Here there is no sympathy; only the strongest, most skilled and smart among us can get hold of a piece of food and a bit of water. There was no place for weaklings. Those who are weak die, those who are strong physical but weak mentally and share their food die, and those who are weak physical but strong mentally and try to revolt are killed first. It is best to be fast and swift and kill your own sympathy before it reaches the surface and just endure the hardship.

I elbowed a large man to my right and slipped before a big busted woman to my left. At least six man had taken a hold of the bread and another four where tugging at the water bottle. This will be tricky. The water was now the most important to me. I hadn't gotten any for the last 2 days and with spring approaching, the sun was getting hotter by the day. Dehydration was not an option. Sneaking up between the four that had taken a hold of the water bottle I readied myself. With one clean hit from above I managed to make the bottle fall from the others hands and, before it reached the ground, I catch it into my quick hands and take a break for it, leaving behind the shocked humans and dodging several men who are still throwing themselves at our 'breakfast'. Once I reached a dark corner where I could hide from the rest, I screwed the cap of the bottle and drank the water greedy.

The water tasted horrible and nearly made me throw up my non-existing stomach contents, but it was better than nothing.

Just when the last drop was squeezed out of my bottle, the door opened. Through the door I could see that the sun was barely rising, but my eyes weren't on the sky outside, but on that smelling snake in the door opening. We all knew what it meant. Time to open the display. Time to sell us, to tie us against a wooden pole and be judged and inspected like caught animals

"Alright you lowly human scum, you know what to do. Don't talk to the customers, don't talk with each other, don't talk to me, just don't talk at all. Don't look into anyone's eyes and certainly don't do anything embarrassing. If you do any of that…well you know what will happen."

Oh, we know alright. Just like all the rest. Men are whipped, women are raped, humiliated, isolated, you can name it and they do it to us.

* * *

It was raining, pouring actually. The wind felt cold against my bare skin, water seeping through my thin, ripped, formerly white excuse of a dress. The dress was short, too short for my liking. It was barely covering my butt and the straps on my shoulders that were holding the dress in place were nearly ripped off. Surprisingly it had once been a simple but beautiful summer dress. I had stolen it once upon a time while it was drying in the sun. I can't remember were and when that was precisely but I do remember that it smelled great and felt both soft and cool against my heated skin. The dress was too big back then. The hem of the skirt reached my knees and a satin white ribbon was tied in the middle of it. Now it's nothing more than cloth to help me keep my privacy and dignity. De skirt is almost completely ripped off, the ribbon long lost, big holes and rips have appeared everywhere and the dirt, sweat and bloodstains have ruined the perfect white.

But I won't despair.

Looking up I saw in the distant a few rays of sunlight. I found it Ironic. Look at me; a human slave that is forced to work till she dies, with only a bit of hope she squished down and buried in the deepest of her soul. And once she hits the darkest pit of despair, those little rays of hope would shine through the foreboding clouds that are her misery and al they do is leading to disappointment.

Once long ago had I allowed that and it broke me in more places than one.

The lamps were lit, and the sun was gone. The sunset would be beautiful if it were not for the heavy clouds that were shielding it from my view. We would be standing here till midnight before then we are thrown back in our cell. The big man that stood next to me was sold around noon, so was the young girl on my right. I hated it that way. When you are standing alone people would pay more attention on you. I hated attention, it only gets me hurt.

A sudden noise interrupted my thoughts. That filthy slave dealer was laughing with something a frog-like creature said. The slave dealer in question was a snake spirit. They were sly and known for their low manners of luring you into their trap. The other one must be a frogman. Normally frog spirits live in swamps, the closest was swamp bottom, and that was still a long distance away from here. Tsj that could only mean he was a worker of the bathhouse.

But why would he be here? The workers were most of the time not allowed to go outside of the bathhouse let alone that a frogman would be walking among a slave market of all places. Would that mean he needed a slave? It seemed illogical that he would just come here to have a chat with Hebi over there. A frogman would never buy a slave for themselves, so it had to be one for the bathhouse.

The bathhouse. It was one of the most important buildings in the city, and since this is the capital city it would make it one of the most important buildings in the whole world. It was owned by the witch Yubaba, everybody knows her. The evil, greedy witch who turned everyone in her way in lumps of coal or pigs. It was said that she once whipped out the human revolt with a single spell. A terrible curse that turned them in mindless living dead creatures that kept eating each other till they were all wasted away. She is the emperor's first advisor and plays an important role in the court. The previous emperor had personally appointed her as such and she kept that function even when he died. Being such an important person gave her several privileges; Such as being allowed to run a bathhouse on the emperor's personal grounds. The grounds that hold the imperial castle. The centre of the world.

"What about this one? A fine human man, very strong and excellent for physical labor."

"I was thinking about a woman. All males working in the bathhouse are Frogmen after all; a human male would be too much out of the ordinary."

"But of course, how stupid of me. What kind of woman do you need?"

"I would like a woman of average height, one who is swift and has experience with cleaning floors. A pretty face would be nice to, but make sure she has brown hair. All the yuna have brown hair so that way she wouldn't be so notable."

"As you wish. This little lady won't be noticed at all. And what about-"

"And this one?"

Didn't I tell you that having no one beside you was a bad thing?

"Oh this one, sir? An excellent choice. She certainly is a pretty face with brown hair. She also has just the right height."

"But can she clean?"

Hah, strike. You don't even know my name let alone know what I can do. Now just move on-

"But of course she can! She was once a slave of Lady Amaterasu. And everybody knows how big her palace is. She has a lot of experience cleaning all sorts of floors, not to mention the big bathing room that Lady Amaterasu is so proud of. I'm sure she can be of service."

What? Wait…wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did he just lie against a worker of THE bathhouse? A slave of Amaterasu? Lots of experience cleaning all sorts of floors? The big bathing room? I have never been even near the lands of Amaterasu. Yes I cleaned floors before, but I have totally no experience cleaning bathtubs. If it comes out he lied, than the both of us hang!

"That is just perfect! You see the emperor is having a ball and of course all of them want to have a bath in our most famous bathhouse but we were a few man short. There is no way Lady Yubaba would ever have a human on our grounds otherwise."

God I'm doomed.

* * *

"Yubaba-sama, I brought the human slave."

Yubaba was…rather large in size. Her head was gigantic and her body was wide. She wore a blue dress and her grey hair was tied up into a knot. She was frowning. That together with her giant nose was enough to make me tremble ever so slightly.

"What's your name?"

Even her voice, like fingernails screeching against glass. It was terrifying and I didn't dare to speak.

"Answer me! Now!"

"Ch-chi…chihi-chihiro."

"Can't you even say ma'am?"

That chilling voice booming through my head.

"Y-yes ma'am."

She looked at me, and it was like my eyes were boring into the very core of my being.

"I am Yubaba, owner of this bathhouse. You will call me Yubaba-sama or ma'am and nothing else understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Then suddenly…she was behind me. Her large hand holding my shoulder and her sharp nails digging into my back and chest. And she smirked, laughed at me with her eyes. Mocking me, mocking my fear.

"Are you afraid? You're shaking all over."

Then she laughed out loud, it was a cruel menacing laugh. The very sound nearly made my knees buckle… yet I will not yield.

"No Yubaba-sama I do not fear, I am not afraid."

And her laugh immediately stopped

"Tche."She said as a piece of paper lifted itself of her desk and flew to me. "That is your contract. Just sign your name on it."

A…contract? I'm a slave. Either I comply or die. There is no contract, no bargain, no terms of work. You either do it or face the consequences.

It was still floating in the air in front of me.

"Well? Take it already! I don't have all day." She practically spat. Later on it might not have been such a good idea, but either way I did sign. "So you can write huh?" There was a bit of surprise mixed in the obvious tone of disdain. Whether it was because I was human or because I took so long to write my name down doesn't interest me, but apparently she didn't expect a lowly human to even be able to sign when she offered me, well more like forced, the contract.

"Hn. Chihiro. What a pretty name." suddenly the written characters were sucked from the paper and into her hand, until only one remained. Chi or Sen. Both meaning thousand. "From this day on you will be called Sen. do you understand Sen?!" "yes, ma'am."

"RINNNNNNNN!!!" Within seconds the door swung open and a girl came in. She had long brown hair and brown eyes. She also wore a pink uniform. She kind of reminded me of a weasel for some reason. "Hai, Yubaba-sama." And she seemed extremely annoyed. I don't know what kind of spirit she was. It was difficult to determine the kind of humanoid spirits. One thing was certain. She was a yuna. They were even more rarely seen than frogmen. "Rin, this is Sen. She will be your new assistant." Rins eyes narrowed even further. "Hai, Yubaba-sama." then she turned and left. Was I supposed to follow? "Oi, are you still coming?" Apparently I was.

* * *

"Listen up, in a week there will be a ball in the palace. The most powerful and important gods will visit and of course they will also come to the bathhouse." She sighed, and suddenly she seemed very tired. "Just…don't screw this up." She turned around and searched in a closet. For a uniform. My uniform. "So you're name is Sen huh?" Well no it's…I…I can't remember my real name. "Don't break your pretty head over it" "huh?" I must have looked even more confused than I would have wanted. She sighed again. "That's how that witch controls us…by stealing our names." Oh god. "She stole my NAME?" Rin frowned. "Don't shout. And yes. All of us came at one time, begging Yubaba for work. Yubaba…she…she can't deny such request. Not because of sympathy, but because she made an oath to give work to anyone who asks. She takes away our names and eventually our memory fades with it. Most came here for that reason…to forget…" And suddenly Rin seemed so far away. Will my memory fade also? Forget my family, my struggle, maybe even myself? Would it be a bad thing?

Pink, I saw something pink. Just before everything became black.

"wha?" "It's your uniform. Don't zone out like that!" I bowed quickly. When you make a mistake, bow down and make yourself small. Don't panic, don't show any form of emotion, any form of fear and apologize politely. Show the offended that you are below them and that your flaw is just because of your human nature.

It was the first thing I learned. To suck it up and throw yourself at their feet, and if necessary, blow hot air in the bubble that is their ego and kiss the very ground they walk on. It became reflex, and it saved me more than a few times.

…And it seems that it wasn't what Rin expected. Now that I think back on it. It was the first time I had a somewhat real conversation with a spirit. Yubaba to, treated me like a person.

"H-hey, you don't have to bow for me like that. I'm not mad or anything." Rin placed a hand on my shoulder. I was still on the ground, sitting on my legs and pressing my face against the floor. I still didn't move. "I…just stand up…I'm sorry if I scared you or anything. I don't like people acting like this." And I complied. Slowly standing up with my eyes still on the ground. "My humble apologies Lady Rin."

She let go of me. "Just change into your uniform. I'll be just down the hallway." And suddenly she was gone.

* * *

"Oi, Kamaji. Time to eat." We were at the boiler-room. This was my first chore in the bathhouse. The boiler man, Kamaji, seemed to be a spider spirit. He has 6 arms which he uses to the fullest, mixing herbs and keeping the boiler running. Next to him black spider-like creatures were walking with heavy lumps of coal above their heads toward the burner. They were kind of cute.

"Oh, Rin." It came to me that Rin didn't have all that much friends. She had a mutual understanding with the other yuna, but the frogmen were definitely on her hate-list. However it seems that Kamaji was the only one she trusted.

"Kamaji, didn't I say to leave your bowl out?" "Ah sorry Rin." "Huh, really" "So who is your new friend?" He said as he looked at me. "Ah, I-I'm-." "She is Sen. She's the new bathhouse worker."

She didn't call me the human slave, human filth or any of that sort. She actually treated me as a co-worker.

"Alright you damned soot, time to eat."

"piep-pip-pip-pieeep" "Ah, Sen. Those are the sootballs. There soot who are brought to live with a spell. If they don't work the spell will wear of." I looked at the basket in my arms. Within the basket there were some sorts of stars in all different colors. "Rin…are these for the sootballs?" "Yeah, just take a handful each time and throw it at them. Just like you would feed birds." Well I wasn't about to say that I never actually fed a bird.

When I approached the sootballs they started to squeak even harder en jumped up and down. It was amazing they could jump so high, but then again. If they could carry such heavy lumps of coal then jumping like they did shouldn't be so hard. "Alright little ones…" Hand after hand I sprinkled the multi-colored food out. It reminded me of how human slaves are fed; only in this case there is more than enough food to feed all of them properly. It warms my heart a little that even the sootballs, who only exist because of a spell were taken such good care of.

* * *

"Rin, are you still awake?" but nothing came for an answer. Still the blackest moved. "Rin?" "Yeah, yeah, I'm awake now. What is it?" It took me a moment to remember my question. "I was wondering Rin…why are you so nice?" I couldn't see her very well but by the sound of moving blankets I assumed she turned to face me. "What kind of a question is that? It's like asking someone why they have brown hair." It came to me that she didn't understand what I was saying. Being nice is just what makes her herself. "No I mean, why are you so nice to me? I'm a human, a human slave. The lowest of the lowest-. ""Does it matter?" "What?" "Does it matter that much to the others that you're human?" She didn't know? She didn't know how the other spirits from the outside world threaded the mortal race? "Being human is in the eyes of most people is one of the biggest disgraces there exists. Being human is complicated. We only exist to serve as slaves they say. Being human is very hard Rin…so terribly hard." And all was silent. "Is that… why you reacted so strange earlier?" She probably meant the uniform incident. "Yes. Reacting that way has saved my hide quite a bit."

"Hey Rin?" "Yeah?" "What kind of spirit are you?" She snorted "I'm a slug spirit, silly." "Seriously? I thought you would be a weasel or something." "A weasel?" "Yeah…"

Somehow, someway, my first friend was a spirit, a slug spririt, but a spirit non to less. Maybe…just maybe…there is still some hope.

* * *

Oh no, where is Haku?

Don't worry he'll come. I'm sure some things are similar with the movie, but I try to twist them a bit.

I'll try to keep up this lenght of chapters. I have a lot of work (schoolwork) so time might be a problem.


End file.
